MANY OF TODAY'S twenty- and thirty-something women struggle with the well-intentioned "you can be anything" empowerment message of their youth and now feel a "you should be everything" brand of guilt. As Macko and Rubin reveal in their critically acclaimed investigation, millions of Gen-X/Y women are hitting the same roadblocks at the same time, just as they are making critical decisions about marriage, motherhood, and earning power.Through the candid and revealing stories of the "New Girls' Club," a group of women who've successfully solved the work/life puzzle, such as Geraldine Ferraro, Judy Blume, Susan Sarandon, Denise Austin, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, and many more, Midlife Crisis at 30 presents pragmatic strategies and realistic suggestions for young women everywhere.

EVERY GENERATION HAS ITS OWN STORY, and ours is no exception. Over the past 30 years, somewhere between Joan Baez and Lil' Kim,what it means to be a successful woman has changed completely. Ourmothers lit the fuse by battling workplace discrimination and gender politics. They burned their bras, took on Washington, and won women unprecedented opportunities for professional advancement. In order to take full advantage of the doors our mothers kicked open, the women behind them and in front of us--women now in their midforties--took on their "ticking clocks," setting new timetables for childrearing while mainstreaming new heights of achievement among working women. Our generation's story is fueled by both the progress and the unfinished business of the women who came before us. It has unfolded, but it has yet to be told.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Why Are Baby Boomers' Daughters Melting Down

Instead of Rallying for Change?

Part One: The Midlife Crisis at 30: Why Now?

Chapter 1: Generation Stressed

Chapter 2: The New Glass Ceiling

Chapter 3: The Bitch vs. the Good Witch

Chapter 4: Happily Ever After, Revised

Chapter 5: The Men's Room

Part Two: The New Gids' Club: Your Dream Team of Mentors

Introduction: Beyond 30

Chapter 6: Escaping the Sequential Success Trap

Finding Happiness, Maintaining Equal Partnerships,

and Redefining Family

Chapter 7: Navigating the New Glass Ceiling:

Finding the Right Fit in the Work-Family Puzzle

Chapter 8: Tactical Maneuvers: Strategies,

Pragmatism, and the Power of Perseverance

Chapter 9: Changing Direction:

Deliberate Action, Definitive Results

Chapter 10: Letting Go of Perfect:

Getting over Yourself to Get the Life You Want

Chapter 11: Guts and Grace:

Staying on Course When It Counts

Notes

Index